458 
Canadian Agriculture. 
thanks to !Mr. Joseph G. Colmer, Secretary of the Office of the 
High Commissioner for Canada, who has alw ays most courteously 
aided me at all times when I have sought the benefit of his 
advice and experience. 
COXCLUSIOX. 
In seeking to arrive at some general conclusions respecting 
the present character and probable development of Canadian 
agriculture, it is necessary to bear in mind the fact that it is 
onlv within the last forty or fifty years that any agricultural 
progress worthy of the name has been effected in Canada. Still 
more important is it to remember that the work of clearing 
the forest lands, opening up the country, and bringing the soil 
under cultivation, was originally performed by men who had 
little else than their muscles and their native courage to rely 
upon, — by hardy pioneers with little or no capital, who left their 
native shores with the brave determination to hew out from 
" the forest primeval " the means whereby they might acquire 
wealth and independence. It is perhaps regrettable that the 
extension of agriculture in the Dominion should be inseparable 
from the destruction of its forests ; this was, of course, to a cer- 
tain extent inevitable, but I have endeavoured to show that 
under a proper system of conservancy much of the existing 
forest areas may be preserved as sources of revenue for ever. 
The establishment of such forest conservancv should be no 
longer delayed. Many of the pioneers, to whom I have just 
referred, have advanced to leading positions in the admini- 
stration of the affairs of the Dominion, and it is only in accord- 
ance with natural law that their sons should be worthy successors 
of such sires. 
The increase of population has, owing to immigration, been 
much more rapid in Canada than is generallv supposed, and, in 
this connection, the Dominion compares favourably with the 
great English-speaking nation which has effected so remarkable 
a development of the southern half of the North American 
Continent. Thus, in 1776, the United States contained about 
3,900,000 inhabitants, and in 1881 about 50,000,000, showing 
an increase of some 1200 per cent. Canada, at the census of 
1784, did not muster 150,000 people, whereas in 1881 the 
number had advanced to 4,324,810, an addition of nearly 3000 
per cent. Moreover, since 1830, when both countries began 
to experience the effects of the tide of immigration from Europe, 
Canada has shown an increase of about 4i^0 per cent., while 
that of the United States has been about 390 per cent. In 
other words, Canada has in the space of the last half century 
